


All the King's Horses

by IllestRin



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Chronic Pain, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllestRin/pseuds/IllestRin
Summary: Malcolm is having a Bad Pain Day ™But it ends with Gil taking care of him.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo/Malcolm Bright
Comments: 10
Kudos: 59





	All the King's Horses

**Author's Note:**

> I've had Ankylosing Spondylitis since I was 19, and Fibromyalgia for a number of years, so I've dealt with chronic pain for 15 years now. I've had 2 flare ups in the last several months. 
> 
> Just kind of wanted to project onto the boy. You know how it is. 
> 
> But whereas I am the caretaker of literally everyone in my life, I wanted someone to take care of Malcolm for just a little while. And this happened. I know. It's a ridiculous little story. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Malcolm can already tell before he even opens his eyes that today is not going to be one of his better days. 

He catches the release on his restraints and slowly sits up, every muscle and joint in his body aching in protest at the movement. Malcolm slowly swings his legs around to hang off the bed.

God. Everything hurts. 

"Fuck."

It's not like any of this is new to him, but the pain still manages to catch him off guard. 

Does one really ever truly get used to chronic pain? Malcolm doesn't think so. 

A soft tweet breaks him out of his thoughts and reminds him of his responsibilities. Sunshine relies on him, and right now she needs her food and water changed. Malcolm slowly levers himself off of his bed and makes his way to the kitchen area. First things first. Medications. 

Beyond the anxiety medications he has been taking since he was a young child, Malcolm started adding other types of medications when he hit his late teens and into early adulthood. He grabs the first one and pops it open, his non steroidal anti inflammatory. Malcolm moves down the line opening pill bottles of various sizes and shapes, some prescription, some just vitamin supplements recommended by his Rheumatologist. 

He should really invest in a daily pill organizer one of these days. 

"Sunshine, I don't know why they can't figure out how to make the turmeric capsules smaller." 

Some days it's hard to tell if anything is actually working, but Malcolm cannot just give in that easily. 

His morning medicine routine finally complete Malcolm goes about the task of refreshing his darling pet's food and water, doing his best to ignore the screaming in his joints all the while. Some days are better than others. 

And today is just not a good pain day. 

Malcolm just really hopes that whatever case they are working on today doesn't require him to physically do much. The others might not understand, but Gil does. 

It's still very early in their relationship, and they are still figuring this whole thing out. They've known each other for twenty years, but things only started to change in the last few months. When Malcolm kissed Gil suddenly after the end of a case, and that kiss was a welcome one, they knew they should talk. And so they did. The two of them have gone on a few dates here and there when there has been time, cuddling on the couch, with a few make out sessions sprinkled in. But they have been taking it slow. Malcolm has just enjoyed what time he spends with Gil, whether they're working or at home. 

Gil knows about his condition. He knows Malcolm so profoundly, that sometimes he doesn't even have to tell Gil what he needs. Gil provides for him. 

Speaking of… Malcolm should probably check in with him. 

Malcolm slowly walks back over to where he left his phone on the nightstand and sits back down on his bed. Fuck, he is already exhausted. 

Malcolm scrolls down the contacts list to Gil's name, and smiles. He added a little heart next to Gil's contact as a joke, but it still brings about a warm and contented feeling when he sees it. He hits the call button. 

"Hey Gil, what have we got today?" Malcolm raises his free hand to try and rub at the stiff and aching muscles at the back of his neck, wincing as his efforts to improve his pain accidentally exacerbate it. 

"Not much today. Just trying to wrap up the Harris case before it goes to court. Mostly paperwork. You coming in?" 

He really doesn't want to. He doesn't want to do _anything_ today. 

"I think I'll stop in for a little while. See if there is anything I can't help out with." 

"Ok. See you soon city boy." 

Malcolm disconnects the call and sets his cell phone next to him on the bed. Now begins the laborious task of getting up and getting dressed. 

Bad pain days are the worst. 

A few of Malcolm's joints pop as he stands up and makes his way towards his dresser. Maybe he can find a slightly less form fitting suit in here somewhere. Malcolm pulls one out and starts to disrobe before redressing himself in the sleek navy blue suit. Maybe he can forgo a waistcoat today. Only Gil would probably notice anyway. Malcolm finishes his task by sliding on his suit jacket.

Every movement is accompanied by a grimace, his back is definitely the worst today. Hopefully he can manage to loosen up a bit on the way to the precinct. 

Some days it's hard not to feel defeated by his own body. 

"Well Sunshine, wish me luck." 

He would like to imagine her chirp is a reply of encouragement. 

The trip to the precinct was about as pleasant as expected. Which is to say it was awful. The taxi driver took every turn at speed jarring his body at every opportunity, and it was all he could to just not openly whimper at the sharp increases in pain. 

Exiting the taxi Malcolm straightens his jacket before making his way into the precinct, hoping his stiff walk wasn't as obvious to everyone else as it surely felt to him. He was definitely going to have to call his Rheumatologist later for an emergency prescription of prednisone, no matter how much he hated the taste of them, Malcolm needed the steroids this week. 

He sees Dani first when he enters the bull pen, waving to her, not seeing JT come up behind him until he is clapped heavily on the shoulder in greeting. Malcolm is unable to stop the small whimper of pain the heavy handed touch causes, instinctively trying to move out from under the hand of his coworker. "Good morning JT."

"Don't you mean afternoon? Are you ok dude?" JT removes his hand from Malcolm's shoulder, a look of concern on his face and lacing his voice. 

Malcolm tries to roll his shoulders a little, the muscles in his neck are trying to seize up. Hopefully he won't have to stay in the office too long. "Yes, just a bruise. Have you seen Gil?" 

"He's in his office." 

Malcolm turns away and starts walking towards Gil's office, doing his best to ignore a shooting pain that has started down his hip. Fucking great. Could his body _please_ give him a break??

Gil greets him at the door to his office and the sight of the man puts a smile on his face despite the pain he is in today. "Hey Gil. What have you got for me?" 

The older man moves out of the way and ushers him into his office before closing the door behind Malcolm. "We can split the Harris case files and maybe finish this quicker. Maybe we can pick up some dinner tonight, sound good?"

Malcolm gives an affirmative as he gently lowers himself into one of the visitor chairs in Gil's office, trying to be mindful of his stiff joints. 

Gil catches his awkward movements despite Malcolm's attempts at appearing otherwise. "Bright. What's wrong?" The concern is evident in the voice of his partner. 

"It's nothing, don't worry Gil." He gives the other man a smile, attempting to put him at ease. Malcolm doesn't want to worry him with his pain, and they have work to do. 

"Bright.." Gil sighs. "Malcolm. We talked about this."

They had a conversation once they started a relationship that Malcolm would do his best to be as upfront as possible with Gil. No secrets. Not between them. 

Malcolm just had to tell him. 

He sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I think I'm having a flare up. No. I _know_ I'm having a flare up."

A slight look of confusion crossed Gil's face. "A flare up?"

"A flare up is when my chronic pain just suddenly gets worse. Not sure what triggered this one."

Gil's eyebrows raise towards his hairline. "So you're telling me you came in here to work while in pain. A lot of pain. Malcolm, you didn't need to." 

"No, I know. But I wanted to see you. And I wanted to help." Malcolm hopes he doesn't send him back home immediately, not ready to face the jarring taxi ride back to his lonely loft yet. 

Gil stands and starts to organize all of the files on his desk. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm taking you home, kid. You shouldn't be here in the first place. You look miserable. I'm not going to make you wait around for me. JT and Dani can work on these. Come on." He grabs his keys and shoves them in a pocket. 

Gil comes to stand in front of Malcolm and holds out the hand not holding the files. Malcolm grabs it to help leverage himself out of the chair better, but once he's standing Gil doesn't drop his hand as he leads them to the door of Gil's office. They aren't officially "out" to the team yet and it looks like they're about to walk into the bullpen holding hands. 

Malcolm can't keep the smile off of his face at the warm glow he feels at Gil holding his hand brings. Before Gil opens the door he pauses to look back at Malcolm, raising their joined hands slightly. "Is this alright?" 

Malcolm can't find the words, so he looks up into Gil's warm brown eyes and gives him a nod. 

Without another word Gil leads them out into the bullpen, stopping at JT's desk to drop off the files and let the team know they would be leaving early. Neither JT, nor Dani, made a comment about their boss holding hands with their profiler. Malcolm was perfectly fine with that. Gil never let go of his hand the entire way to the Le Mans, other than to open the car door for Malcolm. Always maintaining a speed that didn't put any extra strain on Malcolm's aching joints. 

Malcolm fell more in love with Gil with every step they took together. 

Malcolm was utterly exhausted and ready to drop once they made it back to the loft. Though the ride in the Le Mans with Gil behind the wheel was a much more pleasant experience than the taxi ride to the precinct was. 

"Kid, I wish you had just stayed home this morning. You really didn't need to come in. Now go sit. You look like you're about to collapse on me." 

Malcolm shuffles over to his couch and lowers himself into it with a sigh of relief, happy to just rest for a while before doing anything else. His muscles are definitely aching. From the neck on down. 

"Do you want to change into something more comfortable?" 

Less constricting clothes would be nice. 

"If you could bring me a pair of sweatpants and a shirt I'd appreciate it. They should still be by the bed." 

Gil places a kiss on the top of Malcolm's head as he makes his way to Malcolm's bedroom space to pick up his comfortable clothes before returning to his partner and standing in front of him. Gil hands him the clothing. "Ok. What do you need next?" 

Malcolm just takes a moment to stare at the man standing before him, patient as anything. Ready to help him with anything he might need. His heart swells with affection, and he reaches out to grab Gil's hand suddenly, needing to ground himself in this moment. 

Malcolm must be giving off a look of vulnerability because Gil is looking at him with such concern. He doesn't extract his hand as he carefully sits next to his partner, angling his body towards Malcolm, bringing his other hand to stroke the back of the hand grasping his. He looks into Malcolm's bright blue eyes. "Talk to me. What's going on in that head of yours." 

"Just.. you taking care of me." Malcolm's tone is soft, breathy. 

"Kid, I will always be around to take care of you, if you let me." Gil maintains eye contact with Malcolm while he brings the hand clasped between both of his hands up to his lips, gently kissing Malcolm's pale knuckles. 

"I love you Malcolm." Malcolm can hear the sincerity in his tone and he cannot help but smile. 

"I love you too Gil."

Gil releases Malcolm's hand and stands up from the couch. "Now what can I get you while you change?"

"If you could make me some tea.. and bring me my heating pad. That would really be helpful. Thank you. The heating pad should be in the trunk by my bed." Malcolm starts to unbutton his jacket and shirt, replacing them with the tee shirt Gil brought him while the other man goes off in search of his heating pad and to turn on his electric kettle in the kitchen. He does the same for his pants before collapsing back into the couch with a sigh. Malcolm's joints are protesting every movement today, but he feels better being in more comfortable clothing. 

Malcolm glares at them where they sit on his floor. They can just stay there for now. The thought of getting up and moving them to his hamper seems an insurmountable task.

Before Gil walks into his field of view and picks up his discarded clothing and deposits them in the appropriate basket in his bedroom area. Malcolm turns his head towards the other man. "Gil you didn't have to do that, I could have-"

Gil cuts him off with a wave of his hand. "Save it city boy. You're exhausted and in pain. Just relax. Tonight I'll take care of everything." Gil walks back towards Malcolm, heating pad in hand, plugs it in, and hands it to Malcolm who puts it behind his back. 

The heat immediately starts to bring the pain in his back down and he lets out an involuntary sigh of relief. Before Gil heads back to the kitchen he smooths back Malcolm's hair from his forehead and leans down to place a kiss on the same place. "Better?" Malcolm gives him a nod. "That's good." 

Gil heads off to the kitchen to complete Malcolm's other request of tea. 

"I've already got some premade tea bags on the counter in that tin next to the kettle. And you know where the mugs are." Malcolm smiles at how comfortable Gil looks in his home, at how domestic it all looks. And it brings him such joy. Malcolm could get used to seeing Gil in his home every day, if he was being honest. 

Malcolm just relaxes back into the couch and his heating pad while he waits. Man, he feels _so_ much better already, letting the heat soak into his aching muscles. 

Several minutes later Gil returns with a steaming mug of one of his favorite teas that he sets aside on the table before sitting next to Malcolm on the couch. 

"How are you feeling now?" 

Malcolm smiles softly at him, touched by his caretaking, despite the frustration that the pain brings. "Better now. Thank you." 

Malcolm leans forward and tries to ignore the protest he feels in his back at the movement, but the tea is calling his name. Mug in hand, he takes a few small sips before returning it to the table to cool further and leaning back into his heating pad with a sigh. 

Gil scoots to the end of the couch and taps his lap. "Here. Give me your feet." 

The corner of Malcolm's perks up. "Are you giving me a foot massage Gil Arroyo?" 

"Just give me your feet." Gil rolls his eyes at Malcolm's amusement. 

Malcolm slowly repositions himself and his heating pad and pulls his feet up in Gil's lap, leaning back a little further and finding a comfortable spot. Gil takes one of Malcolm's feet and gently starts rubbing his thumb into the sole, which he has to admit feels really great, before Gil switches to the other foot. Malcom does his best to just relax, and enjoy his heating pad, and the company of his partner. 

It doesn't take away all of his pain, but it's enough to just be taken care of by the man he loves. 

Malcolm just looks into the face concentrating so hard on massaging his feet and calves, and smiles more carefree than he has all day. 

"Hey Gil." 

The man in question pauses in his task and looks up into Malcolm's blue eyes. "Hm? Is there something you need right now? Something else I can help with?" 

Malcolm holds out one of his hands for Gil to take, which he doesn almost immediately. He gives Gil's hand a quick squeeze, resting their joined hands on Malcolm's legs. 

"I love you. Thank you for taking care of me. Even when I'm hard to take care of." 

Gil lifts their joined hands and leans forward to place a soft kiss on Malcolm's knuckles. 

"I'll always be here for you Malcolm. I love you too."

Malcolm closes his eyes and relaxes back into the couch. There is no telling how much pain he will be in tomorrow, or the day after, or the week after. Such is the nature of chronic pain. 

Malcolm has his good pain days and his bad pain days. 

But having Gil around for a bad pain day definitely makes everything hurt just that much… less.

**Author's Note:**

> Come join us at the 18+ [Prodigal Son Trash Discord](https://discord.gg/KZxYFDJ)


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